River Forest, IL
How exposed is River Forest to wildfire?
River Forest sits at the 38th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 4,779 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks River Forest at the 41st national percentile — 3 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where River Forest's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 98.8% of River Forest's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 1.2% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
River Forest against the rest of the country
Within Illinois, River Forest ranks higher (90th percentile) than it does nationally (38th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, River Forest ranks 19,657 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,571 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 147 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in River Forest
At the 38th national percentile, River Forest rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
River Forest's 98.8% Minimal-exposure share means structure-level hardening matters less here than it would elsewhere — still worth the low-cost basics, per the home-hardening guide.
Where River Forest's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 4,779 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for River Forest. The exposure-zones guide covers what River Forest's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.